Surrender
The door wouldn't budge. Ava rattled the handle again, panic rising like bile in her throat. The keypad blinked red, mocking her. Outside, the snowstorm howled, but inside the penthouse, the only sound was her ragged breathing and Lucian's footsteps closing in.
Unlock it, she demanded, spinning to face him. Her back pressed against the cold metal, heart slamming against her ribs. You can't keep me here like this.
Lucian's face was a mask of controlled fury, but his eyes, those storm gray eyes, betrayed something deeper, wilder. He stopped a foot away, towering over her, his presence filling the foyer like smoke. I can. And I will. Until you understand.
Understand what? She laughed, bitter and broken. That you're a monster? That this 'debt' is just an excuse to control me?
He
